Final chapter on Bayes History GLOBAL IMPACT Shaykh Ibrahim (RTA) has traveled vastly throughout the world in order to spread Islam. To him goes primarily the credit of turning Senegal into a Muslim majority country. In Ghana alone, he converted no fewer than 8 thousand Christians and pagans to Islam. It is not surprising therefore that he was feared as a “terror” by Christian missionaries in West Africa. It is because of men like the Shaykh, his disciples, students and followers that islam is today spreading in Africa in the face of other other religions and resurgent paganism. He has swept the Muslim lands he had visited with such a spiritual force through the tariqa Tijaniyya that multitude of Muslims have now tasted the rare sweetness of pure tawhid and monotheism in an unprecedented manner never before seen in Africa since the time of the early Muslim generation. A clear and unmistaken example is in Nigeria where the frequent proclamation of “lailaha illa lahu” has dominated the sky lines with an intense love of the holy Prophet (salla lahu alaihi wa sallam). He was not only an erudite and versatile scholar but also a prolific writer who has written over 70 books on various subjects including fiqh (muslim canon law), arabic language and grammar, Islamic ethics, tasawwuf (Islamic mysticism), seerat (life of the noble Prophet salla lahu alaihi wa sallam), tafsir (Quranic exegesis) among many other Islamic disciplines which he treated with admirable competence and excellence. He was a poet of the highest order composing some eight anthologies. Due to his immense knowledge and understanding of Islam, he was awarded the title of Shaykhul Islam by the eminent head of the al- Azhar University Cairo Egypt Muhammad Mahmud Shaltut. This title is only given to Islamic scholars who have attained a level of competence and mastery in at least 25 disciplines in Islam. He advocated for mass education for both males and females. In reference to this, the shaykh said in a speech that “women should compete with men in knowledge”. It is because of this that women of the path are found to be well versed in quran and hadith. Suffice to say that all his female children have memorized the entire Quran and are Islamic scholars in their own rights who engage in continuous education of women and children throughout sub-sahara Africa. He also establishea zawiyya (Islamic study centre) in his hometown of kaolack which has now developed into an institute that is affiliated with Al-azhar University in Cairo through which thousands of students all over the world attend to complete their studies. This scholarly act was imitated by his disciple who established many of these zawiyyas all over Africa, a consequent of which literacy has been improved. At a time when the Muslim world were still rejecting the recitation of Quran over the radio and other electronic gadgets such as loudspeakers, he issued a fatwa that not only is it allowed but compulsory for Muslims to embrace these inventions because they promote piety and helps to spread Islam. He was among the first West African Islamic scholars to write a book explaining the rules of pilgrimage to Makkah for those traveling by plane. Not only did the Shaykh emphasize on Islamic knowledge, he also encouraged western education as is evident in the speech he gave for the maulud at kaolack in 1386 AH where he addressed the muslim youth saying “Go ahead and be vanguard in all things for the future of nations is based on its youth and make every efforts to seek and do your best to acquire knowledge not only Islamic knowledge and mathematics but also be part of and co-operate with those whose zeal is to discover the unknown and unseen things of this world (by that he meant sciences).” Shaykh Ibrahim was a distinguished and highly honoured member and official of global Islamic organisations such as the Muta’amarul alamil Islami (Islamic World Congress)in Karachi Pakistan for which he was vice president and Majmaul Buhuthil islamiyya (Academy of Islamic Studies) in Egypt for which he was a highly respected contributor. He was a co-founder of the Muslim World League, and a member of General Islamic Conference for Jerusalem, Association of Islamic Universities based in Morocco and High Islamic Council in Algeria (Majlisul aala li shuunil Islamiyyah). He attended various Islamic international conventions whose central theme was mostly on daawah (call to Islam). Contrary to the claims of distractors and scoffers who try to taint the tariqa as being bid’ah, to the shaykh (RTA) goes the full credit of reviving a neglected sunnah of placing the hands over the chest while praying in salat for which he wrote the book Rafal malam. He even went through the troubles of snapping a picture of himself praying with his hands over the chest to confirm to the sub-saharan muslim population that this is the right way thereby setting an example that got wide acceptance till this day (the strategy of a picture was used to visually show people that this sunnah practice was indeed endorsed and advocated by the Shaykh as television was not a luxury enjoyed by millions of Africans then). By doing this he revived a long neglected sunnah of the Prophet (salla lahu alaihi was sallam) He contributed towards socio-political stability in countries he had visited with his methods and preaching of tolerance and mutual respect. For example, he sowed seeds of love and understanding as well as cementing trust among various tribes through promoting inter-tribal marriages in Nigeria and international marriages in other West African countries. A very significant number of inter-tribal marriages (if not majority between the Hausa-Yoruba are found among those of the tariqa. Other examples are marriages between Morrocan-Senegalese, Algerian- Senegalese etc. He preached religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence with people of other faiths. It is worthy of note that in addition for advocating for the welfare of muslims in countries he visited, he also gave advises to Christian leaders towards ensuring political stability and peace as was the case with Kwame Nkrumah (former president of Ghana), General Yakubu Gowon (former military president of Nigeria), Leopold Singore (former president of Senegal). The Shaykh had great disdain for oppression and transgression prompting him to write several treatises on the plight of the colonized people world-wide. In one of his famous pro-freedom treatise Al Ifriqiyya lil Ifriqiyyin (Africa to the Africans), he accurately predicted that Africans will rule Africans (alluding to the end of colonialism) before his life comes to an end. Indeed, very shortly after the publication of this treatise (within few months), there was a massive galore of independence granted to many African countries around the 1960s. He caught global attention because of this treatise especially among the middle-eastern leaders who invited him for discourses and advice on several occasions. A well- known visit was the one he had with President Jamal Abdunasser of Egypt and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 11:46:09 +0000
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